The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has denied the existence of a “Catch-22” situation that could affect thousands of disabled people unfairly found “fit for work” following an assessment by its contractors Atos Healthcare.
From next month, those found ineligible for employment and support allowance (ESA) – the new out-of-work disability and sickness benefit – will have to go through an extra stage before they can lodge an appeal with the tribunals service.
During this “mandatory reconsideration” stage – which will see a DWP officer looking again at the claim to see if the original decision was correct – the claimant will no longer be entitled to receive ESA.
Currently, claimants can continue to receive ESA while they appeal, but from next month they will instead have to claim jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), or survive without any benefits.
Campaigners say that this creates a Catch-22 situation, because by claiming JSA they will have to declare they are fit and available for work, even though they believe they are not.
They will only be able to claim ESA again – at the lower assessment rate – once mandatory reconsideration is over, if they need to lodge an appeal.
A DWP spokesman said: “This is not a Catch-22 situation. At the point a claimant claims JSA they are fit for work – that was the effect of the decision which ended the ESA entitlement.”
Full Story – Benefits & Work
